Wednesday, August 27, 2008

"An Echo Of A Flame..."




There is a small island... among many others... off the coast of a larger island...
A very favorite place of mine to wander by sea kayak. I had never set foot upon this particular point of rocky shore until during one very, very, low spring tide. I was just barely able to land for a brief stretch... I often wonder what I may find during such moments... new vistas, unseen terrain, maybe not touched by any other... something from our past... And that was the echo that I not so much saw, as sensed that sunny day...
Among the trees, above the waters, tucked into the rocky shore... was an ancient fire ring...
How ancient I am never sure, but old enough for trees to grow tall among the placed rocks of this ring... old enough for there to be no remains at all of a flame burning, except for some blackening barely left under the rocks used there...
But still... here this was... and I wondered over it; pondered further too about who had been there, how very long ago, and with what echoes they had lived their lives with...
They would have been looking then at pretty much what I was viewing at this present moment... They stayed longer in this spot than I would, to likely eat and sleep by this warm fire. The flames would have flickered off the nearby trees with the echo of their laughter falling upon the company of the ocean... Their presence would have been reflected in many ways as they lived that day among these secluded islands...
Such echoes create images in our minds eye of what was, even at times of what could be...
I remind myself that our actions in the wild places may echo and resonate for eternities just as these fire rocks have...
I ask often of myself too... what will we pass forward to be heard generations from now, and who will sense the reverberations of our intentions and adventures of today...
What an interesting connection over time... From ages ago until these moments; from then until now... from them to each of us... in the simple echo of a flame.....
DSD


Tuesday, August 19, 2008

"Hiking Hidden Valleys..."




There are many hidden valleys out there... waiting... just waiting...
I am sure some hardly ever see the shadow of a human fall within them; hardly ever hear the breathing of a person among them...
Many such hidden places only the feathered and the four legged ones know about...
It was on a solo, just off the regular trail, while hand-railing a small alpine lake, that I was to enjoy the serendipity of discovering the remnants of a very old trail heading subtly north off into the trees...
It wouldn't have even been noticed if I hadn't stopped at just that spot to adjust my pack again as it often shifts about as if it has a mind of its own...
"I wonder...", are two words which have led me out both on amazing unplanned adventures and epics as well. I pondered these words again in my mind... and then just stepped out and started to follow where this musing and that trail might take me...
It was a very old trail; after an hour it only led to what seemed to be a narrowed section where two rock bands met and embraced each other... I 'wondered' again, and after some struggling with scree and scrub, made my way up and through this stony cleft... The trees beyond only thickened further, but after just a bit more persistent bushwacking, the rock dropped away... and a small hidden valley opened up...
There are times out there that brand an image within our minds as any tattoo upon the skin - so memorable, so vivid are they...
I wandered about there for hours... For such a small place there was much to explore... Trees to gaze upon, a small stream to listen to, polished rock to hold, lichen to wonder over, high cliffs on all sides to look up at, and tracks to study...
That was a very special day of wandering and wonderment... of simple exploring and enjoying... of reflecting upon summits and secrets and musings among that little hidden valley...
I have yet to return to that secret place... part of me kind of hopes no one else has discovered it since; but I am sure someone has. On those quiet reflective evenings, I wonder again if that old snow ever really melts in there, I ponder how much growth has taken place, and what flowers are out this season... I wonder too if that ages old cairn I found still exists, and I smile as I think of the little surprise I placed there...
And then I begin planning to return to that special hidden valley... There are many of them out there waiting still.....
DSD


Friday, August 15, 2008

"Keeping The Cadence..."




After visiting with Kraig at the Adventure Blog yesterday, and musing over his new gear for biking adventures, I began pondering over what we have learned about cadence...
I learned about this movement metaphor first in Outward Bound; we saw it applied by an older person so well on a long distance trek; it was taught again to me on a multi-day paddle; a friend and mountain guide also shared the potency of it on a very challenging approach and climb; and while biking the slickrock in Moab its subtle power was very apparent...
There can be found within us and out there... a zone of sorts... a way of being in cadence with our body; with the activity; and more in tune with the elements we are journying through...
Some say it can be a kind of 'flow', where the movement - as hard as it gets at times; simply becomes part of us, as much as our breathing and our heart beat. There are moments where we even transcend the effort and are almost above or apart from it as something of our internal being simply observes the ongoing exertion...
'Cadence' is a very valuable physiological, psychological, emotional, even spiritual technique...
It has distinct usefulness at altitude when everything slows yet becomes so much more difficult. It can be applied when paddling for hours in opposing winds where getting off course or being driven back are not safe options. And on those very long days, at the end of a trek, across unknown and broken ground; this cadence of mind and body can keep us moving ; keep us carrying on, even when we may have thought we just couldn't...
Cadence can be the key in the mind moving the body; when the body says stop...
Cadence can also be used to keep the mind in neutral when certain thoughts and doubts and tired anxieties are distracting us unnecessarily... Cadence is measured movement... Intonations within the mind, body, and spirit that propels the whole forward...
Marathoners know it well; cyclists experience it intensely; adventure racers embrace it closely; long distance paddlers and trekkers practice it often...
All of us adventurers can discover its hidden benefits and secrets...
A personal cadence can be almost anything that works for your own internal rhythm... Sounds, song, sensations - whatever is mantra like and meditative for you personally...
Keep the cadence out there my fellow adventurers...
DSD






Thursday, August 14, 2008

"Of Wild Places & Gratitude..."





"Just look at all that already exists in your life, all that you already have: unlimited air to breathe, ample lighting to see, music to hear, books to read, stars to dream by, trees to gaze at, floors to dance on, friends to cavort with, enemies to befriend, strangers to meet, woods to walk through, beaches to comb, rocks to scale, rains to cleanse you, rivers to float you, animals to comfort you..." M. Dooley
Being so inspired today by MickRange's above images... I made extra time to muse over simply being grateful for our wild places... and what adventures have been gifted to us out there...
And for fellow adventurers who share their wild place journeys with all of us...
DSD

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

"Seeing......."




"The whole secret of the study of nature lies in learning how to use one's eyes...". G. Sand
"We take from nature what we cannot see". T. Roethke
I often ponder over... Do we really sense the value of what has been perceived out there...
Do we truly feel and comprehend what we have experienced within the wild places...
Thus the importance of musing...
An Outward Bound Instructor shared with me years ago, that many seasons had passed before she was really able to know and understand... all of what she had 'seen' out in the wild places...
I think I am beginning to see what she meant...
DSD
My thanks to Casey at 'Modern Hiker' for his Motivation category of posts and the above pictures from his Flickr.